"How do you start over from complete devastation?"

85 fires swept through Detroit Tuesday night. Detroit Mayor David Bing called them a "natural disaster." Some homeowners are saying they could have been prevented.

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"How do you start over from complete devastation?"

That quote came from Detroiter James Johnson in a Detroit Free Press article on the aftermath of the Detroit fires. Johnson and his wife lost their house after 85 fires swept through neighborhoods in Detroit's east side Tuesday night.

"Hinton's neighbor, Ian Perrotta, said it took firefighters nearly two hours to respond and said 911 dispatchers were rude on the phone.

'It shouldn't have taken that long,' Perrotta said. 'If they got here in 20 or 30 minutes, all these fires might not have happened.'"

Detroit Fire Commissioner David Mack defended their response time in the article saying the scale of the emergency was unusual. He said the city called for help from 5 suburban fire departments, something the city has not had to do since the 1967 Detroit riots.

Here's an interview about the city's response time with Fire Commissioner Mack from WJBK in Detroit: